I speak to a lot of groups and associations on guerrilla
marketing tactics and how they can take your business to a whole
new level. I sometimes get feedback from individuals who've
attended my workshops but are still challenged by their marketing.
When I ask what tactics they've tried to implement that I
shared with them, their reply is often, "Well, I haven't
tried that yet," or "I haven't had time to implement
any of those things." It's no wonder their marketing
efforts are still a challenge to them.
Wayne Gretzky, the great hockey superstar, once said "You
can't score a goal if you don't take a shot."
Marketing without implementation is like trying to score profits
without taking the necessary shots. And implementation is one of
the largest challenges small businesses and face today.
I can offer suggestions on networking, PR, direct mail, selling,
advertising, positioning and online marketing, but unless a
small-business owner actually puts these suggestions to the test,
nothing will happen. I usually suggest that people do three to five
things related to marketing a day. And studies have shown that if
you do something every day for three weeks, it becomes a habit. So
doing something related to marketing every day for three weeks will
become a marketing habit, and a good marketing habit will solve the
implementation challenge most businesses face.
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Effective marketing implementation starts with managing your
marketing activities. Measuring and control are all parts of good
management. Using a simple chart to monitor your initiatives will
increase your implementation effectiveness. (If you don't have
a chart, you can use your marketing plan itself as a review
mechanism or develop a marketing management accountability
checklist.)
A simple accountability system can consist of a spreadsheet with
the following column headers: date, action, details, cost, person
responsible, target completion date, date completed and resources
required.
The heart of the implementation of a marketing plan is the
execution, the actual "doing" of the planned marketing
activities. Initiatives don't get completed by stating them on
paper--they require action, management and follow up.
Successful marketing implementation requires:
- Effective and efficient coordination of activities--who's
doing what and by when
- Deflection of distractions or objections by focusing on the
tasks at hand and determining where your time is best spent
- Attention to detail. Guerrillas love details and
thoroughness.
- Staying on top of "who's doing what. Never assume
someone else is doing something--guerrillas never assume. It's
that simple.
- Elimination of procrastination. No waiting allowed. If it's
good enough to do later, it's good enough to do now.
There's no time like now to further your marketing
efforts.
- Over-delivery and under-promising. Delighting your prospects
and customers will turn your marketing efforts into sales
dollars.
- Doing what you do best and outsourcing or delegating the rest.
Unless you have more than 24 hours in a day, you can't do it
all and you certainly can't do it all well.
Accountability is a good marketing habit. Plans fail because
those responsible for getting things done aren't held
accountable for their assigned tasks. This includes one-person,
entrepreneurial businesses. The leader or leaders of the
organization must know who's responsible for what and must
manage those who are responsible for getting things done. They
monitor the specific responsibilities for the specific tasks
related to each and every marketing plan component.
For example, you need to determine who's in charge of
writing press releases and when they'll be done and issued.
Who's going to update the website, and when will it be done?
Who will be researching your main competitor and when will each
stage of the research be complete? Following up and checking
completion and due dates on a regular basis will make sure
you're practicing the habit of marketing accountability.
The absence of this follow-up--of asking these questions and
holding people accountable to due dates--will almost ensure a lack
of implementation and lack of success. And if you're the chief
implementer, you have to hold yourself accountable to ensure that
implementation gets done. This is tough sometimes for one- and
two-person businesses because of the distractions, delivery and
daily business routines that have to be done. But it must be done
if you want your marketing efforts to be effective.
Remember if you have effective marketing implementation and your
competitor doesn't, you have a competitive advantage.
Al Lautenslager is the "Guerrilla Marketing" coach
at Entrepreneur.com and is is an award-winning
marketing and PR consultant, direct-mail promotion specialist,
principle of marketing consulting firm Marketing Now, and president
and owner of The Ink Well, a commercial printing and mailing
company in Wheaton, Illinois.